USM falls one win short in NCAA baseball regional

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Eric Hamilton had five hits and Oswego State took advantage of a shortage of rested Southern Maine pitchers to beat the Huskies 9-4 on Sunday in the championship game of the NCAA Division III New York Regional.

The Huskies, who needed to beat Oswego State twice Sunday to advance to their ninth Division III College World Series, won the first game 7-6 on Zach Quintal’s two-run homer in the ninth inning.

But USM (34-13) fell behind early in the second game, giving up two runs in the first inning and two in the second. The Lakers (32-9) broke the game open with four runs in the fourth to take an 8-2 lead.

Oswego jumped on USM starter Tyler Leavitt in the first inning of Game 2. Leavitt (5-1), who pitched only 311/3 innings this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, was on the mound for 72/3 innings in a 10-1 win Friday over The College of New Jersey but was called on to start the championship game on one day’s rest.

He lasted a third of an inning, giving up three hits, a walk and two runs.

Wes Randall opened the game with a single to center. Hamilton, the regional MVP, drew a walk and Mike Dellicarri drove the ball through the right side for a 1-0 lead. John Barnes reached on a fielder’s choice, with Hamilton forced out at third, but Dellicarri stole third and scored on Zach Koller’s bunt single.

Gage Feeney came on in relief and escaped further damage in the first, but he surrendered RBI doubles to Alex Brown and Hamilton in the second inning.

USM pulled within 4-2 when Jake Dexter singled home Devin Warren in the bottom of the second and Quintal scored on a groundout in the third.

But Oswego struck for four runs in the fourth, aided by Randall’s two-run single.

Oswego relievers Brad Wroblewski and Reston Pettit limited the Huskies to two hits over the final five innings.

USM rallied from a 5-2 deficit in Sunday’s first game. The Huskies pulled even with a three-run seventh, which started with Warren’s inside the park home run past the diving center fielder. Andrew Olszak singled home Andrew Hillier, and Paul McDonough scored on a groundout.

The Lakers retook the lead with a run in the bottom of the seventh, but McDonough led off the ninth with a walk before Quintal smacked his fourth home run of the season.

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